Official Game Thread: Hawks - Cavaliers

[lethalweapon3]

Well, look who’s back? While his Cleveland Cavaliers continue to falter, dropping their eighth straight (2-12 in their last 14 games) in a 20-point loss at New Orleans last night, Kyrie Irving showed there’s nothing wrong with his mended shoulder, putting up 31 points and 6 assists in his return to NBA action after three weeks off. It'll be the All-Star's first game at Philips Arena since putting up 29 points and 9 assists last March, although he had 7 turnovers in an overtime loss as the Cavs succumbed to Joe Johnson's clutch shots at the end of regulation and the extra frame. Irving’s 33 points against the Hawks on January 9 at home were more than enough to carry his crumbling Cavs to just their ninth win on the season, on a day where the Cavs learned Anderson Varejao was lost for the season. In that game, Atlanta repeatedly failed to close out on three-point shooters, and Irving and Alonzo Gee responded with a combined 10-for-15 shooting performance beyond the arc. Subpar shooting from Al Horford (7-for-18), even poorer shooting from the Hawk bench (7-for-24), and wretched shot selection from Josh Smith (1-for-5 on threes) were enough to do themselves in. Shooting a franchise-low five free throw attempts and making two, airballing one, didn’t help matters either. The good news for the Hawks is while Uncle Drew has picked up right where he left off, there’s not much he’s doing to stop opposing guards defensively. The Hornets’ Greivis Vasquez (25 points, 9 assists) and emerging rookie reserve Brian Roberts (15 points, 3 assists) combined to more than offset Irving’s production. A similar offensive effort from the trio of Jeff Teague, Devin Harris, and Shelvin Mack should be more than sufficient to render Kyrie’s heroics negligible. Teague must compel Irving to use up some of his energies on the defensive side of the floor. Between comparisons to Michael Carter-Williams and Kevin Ware, Shaun Livingston must be tired of being name-dropped this past March Madness weekend. He’ll try to pick up the defensive slack in the Cavalier backcourt with Dion Waiters still unavailable (knee strain). With Irving out for the past few weeks, Livingston has also provided double-digit scoring in eight of his last nine games. Tyler Zeller had his season-high of 10 defensive rebounds against the Hawks, and Coach Byron Scott would do well to involve his rookie starter in the offense some more. He’s shooting 50.9 FG% since the All-Star Break (41.9 FG%), but his post-break scoring is down since Cavalier guards aren’t finding the seven-footer while newcomer Marreese Speights (10.9 PPG as a Cavs reserve) and Tristan Thompson are calling their own numbers. Thompson has averaged 12.3 RPG (5.0 offensive) in three games against Atlanta this season. Al Horford and Josh Smith have to continue banging in the paint and fighting for rebounds at both ends. Ivan Johnson, Mike Scott and Johan Petro have to remain mindful of the Cavalier bigs' presence whenever Irving drives to the hoop or long-range shooters (C.J. Miles, Wayne Ellington, Daniel Gibson) loft threes, and box out to eliminate second-chance points for Cleveland. As we learned in January, playing cavalierly won’t be enough to fend off the Cavaliers. Go Hawks! ~lw3 View the full article

[lethalweapon3]

Devin and Kyle get the start, as per the great Bob Rathbun via Twitter. Horford confirmed to be back in the starting lineup.

~lw3

[Gray Mule]

Two for one!

Hawks tonight @ 7:30 - - VS Cavs

Braves tonight @ 7:00 - season opener

Thankfully, I have split screen TV!

GO ATLANTA!!

[benhillboy]

I love Kyrie, but there should be no reason Jeff and Devin don't eat him alive on the defensive end. He's a three second guarder. After that, do as you please. Losing this game would be awful. And Id appreciate it if they didn't wait till the fourth quarter to develop a cushion.

[lethalweapon3]

On the Cavs' defense, their 51.16 opponent FG% on two-pointers is the highest in the league, and the percentages are among the worst 5 NBA teams at just about every measured range on the floor. Cleveland's 3.9 blocks per game ranks 29th while 21.2 personal fouls per game ranks 4th.

Offensively, their own 43.4 FG% (all shots) ranks next-to-last, particularly at the rim (60.4%, 29th).

~lw3

Edited April 1, 2013 by lethalweapon3

[benhillboy]

Big one to cross of the ledger for Jeff. He's considerably outplayed almost every young PG in a win except for Kyrie and Parker (not young, but certainly plays like it). I'm not sure if he's had a superior stat line to Curry in a win yet.

Edited April 1, 2013 by benhillboy

[AHawks89]

Didn't watch the game (Braves!), but looks like everyone played a good ass game. Good to see at the end of the season.

[benhillboy]

Like the Orlando game, I can't get too high, but a win is a win. We have surely benefitted from the awful play in the East. LeBron owes Byron a million dollars each year for making him think he was gonna be there. I almost thought I was looking at a D'Antoni team their defense was so silly. I love it when other players take over the game (Devin early), thus preventing Josh from trying to. He can focus on rebounding and against a team like the Irving-less, Waiters-less, and Verajao-less Cavs, the jumpshots dont hurt too much, although I still hate to see them whether he goes 5-5 or 0-5. Let's Go.And doesn't Lil Luke Walton realize Ivan would murder him barehanded with a smile on his face?

Edited April 2, 2013 by benhillboy

[Gray Mule]

ATLANTA WINS !!

Hawks win by 8 & Braves win home opener by 2!

Both teams did well tonight. Both had home runs, too!

Korver got his first one early in the game.

GO ATLANTA!!

[benhillboy]

ATLANTA WINS !! Hawks win by 8 & Braves win home opener by 2! Both teams did well tonight. Both had home runs, too!Korver got his first one early in the game. GO ATLANTA!!

I see old man Huddy still doing his thing. I didn't care for him much when he first got here with the injuries and all. But the past 3 or 4 years, he's been invaluable to the franchise and Smoltz-like in his professionalism and mentorship. People sleep on his HOF potential, but his resume is very similar to Roy Halladay's, who will definately make it. Nothing better than the Hawks-Braves, Braves-Falcons, and Falcons-Hawks two-fers is it!? Edited April 2, 2013 by benhillboy

[lethalweapon3]

How many points would Devin have gotten if some of those 3s had fallen for him?

~lw3

Edited April 2, 2013 by lethalweapon3

[lethalweapon3]

Speights was unconscious. Boobie and Luke were a mess.

~lw3

[benhillboy]

Speights was unconscious. Boobie and Luke were a mess. ~lw3

How is Boobie still in the league? Looking at his stats, you just get sad. I had no idea he was 200 pounds. He plays like he's 170. For some reason he holds a roster spot that I know some youngster in the D-League or even a EuroLeague could make much better use of.

[cam1218]

Better than the Orlando/Boston games. Thank god Horford is back! Side note, isn't it odd Noah and Horford missed games while their Gators were playing lol?

[cam1218]

Also, I keep watching playoff seedings in both leagues. Hawks related, we are currently 5th after tonights win. Houston is close to clinching so we are going to get their draft pick it looks like.I know there are a lot that don't want Dwight, but for those who do, you have to assume the only way it happens is if the Lakers miss the playoffs. Utah has been playing well and currently hold the 8th seed. The race between Dallas, Lakers and Utah for that last spot is going to be intriguing.

[Plainview1981]

Devin has really played well the second half of the year. He never was the star people briefly thought he might become with the Nets, but he has played well. I don't think we would have been better off with Marvin. With Devin playing well, I wonder if the team would be better off if Korver came off the bench. With ZaZa and Lou being out, and both Harris and Korver starting... That bench looks really thin.

[Gray Mule]

One reason our bench is thin, our 2 rookies are out.

JJ with a concussion and the other one, ??, who knows.

Our PG from the D-league sure has looked like he belongs.

Glad we had something go right.

[Guest]

Also Cam, besides Horford and Noah, Parsons out too...Horford and Parsons stomach issues...lol...aka hangover.Horford deserves it tho so I don't really care. Lol